Sunday, May 13, 2012

Yankees notes on a Saturday night

Here are the postgame notes following a Saturday evening victory over the Mariners. The Yankees have started to get on a good roll. They have gone one turn through the rotation plus one with all good starts. The bullpen even without Rivera for the most part has continued to be very good. The hitting is just starting to come around. The Yankees are five games over 500 for the first time and look to keep it going with the return of Andy Pettitte on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees will look for the three game sweep. These notes are courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal news and Lohud Yankees Blog.

According to Phil Hughes, the pitch that we’ve heard so much about in the past
few seasons was his biggest key today. The right-hander turned in his best start
of the season, pitching 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball while relying heavily on
his changeup to lead the Yankees to a 6-2 win over the Mariners.
“It was a good day,” Hughes said. “I probably didn’t have my best fastball or
my best curveball today, but my changeup really allowed me to get out of some
jams and make some good pitches when I was behind in counts. I think that was
the pitch that I really look at as the equalizer today.”

Granted, Seattle’s lineup won’t be mistaken for the ’27 Yankees anytime soon,
but Hughes has now turned in three consecutive good starts after looking very
shaky to start the season. Each has been better than the last, and this is
certainly something he can continue to build on.

“It’s been a process overall to get myself right,” Hughes said. “There’s
sometimes when you can hang onto momentum when you’re pitching well, but as far
as a turning point, it’s kind of hard to get any worse than I was in the
beginning of the year. I’m just trying to build on every start and get us some
wins.”

Hughes talked about taking a “reliever mentality” into the game, which meant
attacking hitters and not shying away from contact. He didn’t have a ton of
strikeouts (four), but he was efficient, pitching deeper into a game than he has
all season.

“Larry and him talked about just being aggressive – going as long as you can,
as hard as you can,” Joe Girardi said. “He was so successful coming out of the
bullpen and locating everything, it’s just been an attitude that we want him to
take on.”

The fact that Hughes’ changeup was his most consistent pitch today was very
encouraging. That’s a pitch that he’s been working on for quite some time, but
has never had tremendous success with. Coupled with a fastball that hit 95 on
the gun several times today, it was very effective. It’s also worth noting that
Hughes used very few cutters today, which usually sit in the 88-91 MPH range. “I
think the main thing is probably that there were eight left-handers in the
lineup today,” Hughes said. “I feel like my cutter is a little bit more
effective to right-handers. I did throw a few to Montero, but other than that I
feel better with my four-seamer going into lefties.”

While the rotation did not have a good month of April, the tide seems to
have turned here in May. Ace CC Sabathia has won five consecutive starts, and
the rest of the rotation is shaping up. With Andy Pettitte completing his
comeback tomorrow, the five-some of CC, Pettitte, Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan
Nova is looking pretty formidable. “CC sets the pace for everybody,” Hughes
said. “If we get him pitching the way that he has been pitching, everyone kind
of feeds off of that.”

The big inning for the Yankees came in the bottom of
the second. After Mark Teixeira doubled, Nick Swisher recorded the second out of
the inning with a fly out to left. As he has all season, Raul Ibanez followed
with a clutch two-out RBI double. Russell Martin broke out of his 1 for 16 slump
with a laser to dead CF to score Ibanez, and then Jayson Nix laced a two-run
homer. Just like that, it was 4-0 Yankees. “I love it,” Girardi said. “Those are
the runs that kill teams. Those are the runs that are big for you and hurt other
teams, and we got them today.”

Ibanez continued his hot play with a solo shot in the fourth. I’ve
interviewed him several times, and while he’s a really nice guy, he’s not one
for juicy quotes. “I’m just trying not to do too much,” he repeated several
times. “Trying to hit a ball hard and put it in play.”

Girardi talked about Nix, who broke an 0 for 20 slump that dated back to
last season with his opposite field homer in the second. “I’m sure it’s
extremely gratifying,” Girardi said. “This kid just goes out and does his
business every day. He’s a pleasure to watch work… He gave us a huge cushion
with that two-run homer.”

Girardi strongly disagreed with the umpire’s decision to allow a runner to
score in the ninth when Carp’s homer was overruled after a replay review and
changed to a double, which cost Boone Logan a run. “He said he slowed up and he
would have scored, and I don’t necessarily agree with that,” Girardi said.
“We’re about wins, but guys care about what they give up – that’s the bottom
line. They have pride in their work.”

Hughes talked about what it’s going to be like watching Pettitte take the
ball tomorrow. “I can’t speak for everybody else, but I’m really excited about
it,” he said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere, and obviously he wouldn’t be
here if he didn’t think he could do it.”

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I am a 31 year old male who is married with a baby girl on the way. I love sports and if you see by my blog under my links I am a huge sports fan. Baseball and the Yankees are my favorite. I am a season ticket holder for the Yankees. I live in wayne,NJ.